There's No Real Ending, It's Only The Beginning
by CherrySpringer
Summary: As the son of a hero, James feels he has a lot to live up to. However, one walk can change a lot of things. James/OC one-shot


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Summary: James, who looks just like his father and his father's father, is having a tough time living up to standards. But what if what he needs, he finds not in the world he thought he belonged in, but in another world entirely different from his?

Tick...tock...tick...tock...

Stop.

Drip...drip...drip...

Stop.

Why? Why did he have to hear all these infuriating sounds as he tried to sleep?

For the past week, James Potter had been losing sleep. Frightening images visited his nightmares of memories that were not his, but he was sure were his father's. He knew he shouldn't have ventured into the pensieve, into that memory...

In a sense, he had new found respect for his father, for what he had done. But at the same time, he was not sure he could ever see his father the same way again. Could this man who had raised him really be the same person as that boy who had walked to his own death? And he, James, what could he possibly be compared to his father? How could he possibly compare?

But beyond all that, _why did he have to listen to these infuriating sounds?_

Abruptly, he sat up. The door to his bedroom was open, but that would only remove the insistant dripping. The clock was in his room. Currently, it told him that it was almost midnight. At least it wasn't as late as usual...yet. This only meant that he was getting frustrated easier, though. With a grunt, James stood and went to his dresser, pulling out a Muggle t-shirt and pair of jeans.

In his rush, though thrown on rather sloppily, he was dressed in record timing. Slipping his wand into his jeans pocket, he grabbed a sweater and crept downstairs.

His mother and father were already asleep, as were all of his siblings, but he had been expecting this. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered getting up. They would have stopped him and asked him what was wrong. Besides, his father would be against him going anywhere so late at night.

When he had succesfully pulled on and tied his sneakers, he opened the door as quietly as possible and stepped into the night world.

It was clear out, the stars visible in the sky. They lived near London, in the country, with no street lights or heavy traffic but still not too far away from the city. To walk there would take too long; that was not James' objective.

In fact, he turned his back on the direction that would take him to the city. He had no desire for loud noises. Instead, he would go further into the country. He wasn't sure how long he would walk, or if he would stop anywhere, but for now it didn't really matter. The objective was to regain peace, and once he did he would begin to think about other trivial things.

As he walked, James thought of his siblings. He wondered if they, too, sufferred from thinking they could not meet the wizarding society's standards. However, if they did, it couldn't possibly be for the same reason as him, for he knew they had not peered into the pensieve like him. He was the trouble maker, he was the one who refused to listen to his father's warnings-the others were innocent.

In three weeks time, James would have to go on the Hogwarts Express for the last time. After this, he would need to find a job, and make his mark in the adult world. He would try for an Auror, like his father, but he wasn't sure he wanted to any more. More than likely, they would hire him with high expectations, expect him to be like his father, but he would probably end up disappointing them and getting fired instead.

He couldn't even conjure a Patronus to take on a legitimate shape for more than two seconds, and he had never even faced a Dementor. It was pathetic.

"You look quite sullen on such a fine night." James jumped, higher than he had ever jumped before, his heart pumping full speed. He hadn't noticed, but he had stopped walking and was standing beside a random tree. Coming from the branches was a distinctively female voice.

"Wh-who are you?" James demanded, trying to see into the shadows of the branches. Unthinkingly, he pulled out his wand and pointed it into the trees. "Lumos."

The sudden light caused whoever it was to let out a surprised hiss, and he saw someone covering their eyes. Long, auburn colored hair hung down the frame of a small girl, who looked like she was around his age. Her skin was well tanned, most likely from the hot summer, but one could easily tell that she was probably quite pale during the winter months. As she adjusted to the light, she dropped one of her small arms and two green eyes blinked down at James.

"Is that a new kind of lighter?" She asked, referring to his wand. Realizing that this girl didn't know what a wand was, he cursed and muttered "nox", shoving the wand back into his pocket.

"Uh, it's uh..." James tried to think of something, but the girl was climbing down, grunting as she swung nimbly down the branches. She moved with a greater grace than James thought possible for such a small body. It wasn't that she was child size, it was easy to tell she was older than fifteen, but she was short, no more than five foot three inches. He associated grace with taller people, not shorter ones.

"The things technology comes up with these days..." The girl sighed, and James realized that she spoke with a Western accent. "I can never get over it."

"Uh...yeah..." Unsure of what to say, James just decided it was best to agree. After all, if he would be able to pawn off magic as advanced technology, it would get him off the hook.

"Well anyways, what's a lone soul like you doing out here so late?" She asked, looking up into James' eyes. She would see two confused green eyes staring down at her, eyes that resembled his mother's, not his father's. "I've never seen anyone walking around here at night."

"I guess the real question should be why _you're_ out here so late." James replied, regaining his speech. He began to recall everything he could about the Muggle world, which was a fair bit considering his father used to live with them.

"Well, that's my house right there. Has been for the past couple of years since I moved here from Ontario. I mean, Canada." She seemed to have made some kind of slip that James didn't notice, because her cheeks suddenly became red. She had pointed behind her, where a two story house stood in the middle of a rather large field, fenced off. Only the area along the road was not fenced, instead bordered by a tree every few feet.

"Oh. Well, I was just taking a walk...I didn't mean to disturb...well, whatever you were doing." James said, oddly nervous. He knew that if it were a fellow wizard he were talking to, he would be having no problems at all. But then again, even there he was not so sure. Something about this girl put him on edge the way no one else ever really had, and it was not an edge that made him cautious, but instead excited and exhilerated.

"Oh, it's fine. I was just staring up at the sky. Now's the only time I can really do it, you know? I mean, it gets really cold during the winter, and it's super easy to fall out of trees, so this kind of stuff is out of the question. It sucks, really, not being able to climb trees freely all throughout the year. You have to go with the seasons, otherwise you'll end up falling or breaking the tree or something. But hey, you've just got to enjoy it while you can." The girl said in a rush, and then suddenly stuck out her hand. "I'm Erin, by the way. Who're you?"

"Uh...James Potter." James said, taking her hand. It was soft, much softer than any one else's he had ever felt, and yet she had just been climbing a tree.

"Nice to meet you, James. Do you live around here? I don't think I've ever seen you around before." Erin said observantly. She let go of his hand, and he wanted to take it again and feel that unbelievably smooth feeling. If her hands were that soft, how soft was the rest of her?

"Yeah, down there." He pointed in the direction of his house. "I don't usually leave my property when I'm home. In fact, I think the last time I came by this house was about three or four years ago, when an older couple was living here."

"Well that explains it then. Considering all the kids out here go to boarding schools anyways since the commutes to public schools are too huge, you probably don't go to the same school as me, either." Erin continued, slipping her hands into the small pockets of her jeans, which were well worn and a bit torn. She wore a small black tank top with spaghetti straps, revealing her petite and well shaped form. James felt an odd attraction towards the girl; one he had not felt for very many of the girls at Hogwarts.

"No, I go to a school pretty far from here." He agreed, diverting his attention from the girl's body before she noticed what he was doing. "You wouldn't know it."

"Well if you told me I would, now wouldn't I?" Erin pointed out, smiling kindly. James blushed.

"I suppose so."

"So modest..." Erin sighed, pleasantly. "Would you like to join me in my tree?"

"Your...what?" James asked, confused for a moment. "You want me to climb the tree with you?"

"Well...that's what I asked, wasn't it?" She asked with a giggle. "Come on. It's not that hard."

"But...you don't even know me, how do you know I won't push you off the tree and let you die?" James asked incredulously. Here, Erin outright started laughing.

When she regained her composure, she stood up straight. "If you were a murderer, you wouldn't sit here talking with me like a shy school boy."

James was unsure, but nonetheless waited for her to climb the tree and joined her. When he was sitting on the same branch as her, his arm touching hers, he spoke again. "So where you come from...Canada...what's it like there?"

"Canada? Oh, it's beautiful in some places and hideous in others. It's really just like any other country in that sense, though, depending on your views of beauty anyways. There's a lot of nice people, but we have our fair share of ass holes, too. The law isn't all it's cracked up to be, and the whole identity thing isn't really that much of a concern to most of us, but those two things always seem to be the number one topic people from around here have to ask about. We don't say 'eh' at the end of every sentence, either."

James actually wasn't really sure what she was talking about. He didn't know too much about other countries, let alone their laws or personality traits. All he knew was that Canada was above America in North America. They were considered two of the most developed countries in the Muggle world, and then that was the end of his knowledge. He didn't know a thing about the wizarding world there, either, but he had a feeling he would be much better at understanding it.

"James?" Erin sounded concerned, and James blinked. He hadn't realized he had dozed off.

"I'm sorry. I was daydreaming." He admitted, and smiled softly. Erin returned the smile in relief.

"That's alright. I always daydream when I'm up here. What about you? Why are you walking so late at night? Something troubling you?" Erin asked, and James was surprised she had guessed it so easily.

"Well...I don't know." James muttered feebly, sighing in defeat and leaning over, hanging his head. "I'm having difficulties trying to live up to society's standards. It feels like everyone is expecting so much out of me because of who my father is, but I don't think I can impress them. I feel like I'm going to disappoint everyone and end up with nothing in the end because I couldn't be the man my father is and was."

There was a brief pause, in which Erin let out an exasperated sigh, and James was shocked when she took his hand. He looked up at her to find she had an understanding look on her face. "Be who you want to be.

"No matter what, don't let others' opinions affect who you are. You are who you are, and that's that. It doesn't matter what others think, or who you're related to you. You're not your father, and if people can't see that it's not your fault, it's theirs. Everyone is their own person, and for them to be trying to be someone else they only waste their lives away in misery. Don't let that happen to you, James Potter. Be yourself."

James wasn't sure he had ever heard such oddly reassuring words before, and to be honest (and he was quite ashamed of this next thought), he never thought he would hear something like this come out of a Muggle's mouth.

He had never really thought of the Muggle world, of the people in it, as being people themselves. He never really thought of their every day lives or routines, or how they got by in daily life, or their opinions or knowledge. He always just saw them as Muggles, non-magical people who knew nothing and lived ignorantly. In reality, they were just never given a chance to have the knowledge he did about magic, and now he was finding that the only thing different was their education, because this girl had just uttered words he wasn't sure he would hear come out of a wizard's mouth.

"Do you...like magic?" James asked.

Erin looked confused for a moment before smiling a little. "You mean, pull a rabbit out of the hat kind of thing?" She asked.

"Well, I'm not so sure I could manage that, I haven't learned how to make spaces bigger than they appear, but I'm sure I could change the hat _into_ the rabbit." James replied, remembering that very lesson in Transfiguration.

Here, Erin looked concerned. "You're not serious, are you?"

James pulled out his wand, and he could tell she recognized it from the expression on her face. He wasn't sure what made him do it, or why he felt so sure he _could_ do it, but he looked away from her with a smile on his face and embracing the happy feeling inside him. "Expecto Patronum."

From his wand, a fox errupted. Erin gave such a loud screech that the Patronus disappeared after a single circle, and James was covering her mouth, looking towards the girl's house in alarm. After a few seconds of no signs of activity, he released her, looking at her again.

He wasn't expecting the fearful look she was giving him. "What...was that?" She whispered, her voice faint.

What had he done?

"It was a Patronus. It's how you fight off Dementors, the guards to the Wizard Prison Azkaban." He whispered, feeling ashamed.

"You mean...you're actually...a wizard?" She asked, sounding disbelieving even as she said it.

"Well...yes." James said, a bit more bluntly than he wanted to.

There was a very long silence, in which Erin stared blankly at the wand James was twirling nervously in his hands. "Can you...show me more?" She whispered.

James smiled. There was no longer a look of fear on her face, but curiosity. Eager now, he began to show her things; enlarging a leaf, creating a flower, making a blue flame, changing his appearance...

She laughed a lot. Sometimes because something was funny, sometimes because she was exhilerated. But no matter what, James loved it. She was beautiful, and with a smile it only made her look more amazing. James had taken to drawing fiery letters in the air when Erin began to talk about herself.

"I would've been named Lily, you know." She whispered, and an odd flip occurred in James' stomach. "Lily Evans. But my mom decided Erin Celia was better, it went better with the last name Archer. She said she always wanted two girls, so that she could use the other name, but instead she had a boy and a girl. She didn't want any more after me, so she never got to name someone Lily. She says she doesn't regret her choice, though."

"There was never any real question about my name." James whispered. "I was the first born son. I think my dad always wanted to name his son after his own father, since he never knew him." James did not mention his grandmother's name, for he did not want this girl to be aware of the odd coincidence. He began to write Lily's name in the air, this one representing his sister.

"Is it different living in a family of wizards? Different family traditions?" Erin asked, leaning her head on his shoulder. She stared at the letters in awe, but he could tell she was intent on the conversation.

"I wouldn't know. I don't know your traditions." James muttered, enjoying the feeling of her body against his.

"Well, do you celebrate Christmas and Easter and stuff?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. But I doubt you celebrate with chocolate from Honey Dukes, or enjoy Every Flavor Beans or Chocolate Frogs that actually move." Erin scrunched up her face.

"You eat movings frogs?" She asked, and James laughed.

"Loads. They're one of the most popular treats in the wizarding world. Our pictures move, too." Here, James dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it, he revealed a photo of his parents when they were younger. In the back of his mind, he noted that it had been a couple of weeks after Harry had defeated Voldemort. Erin gasped as she watched their small figures smile and wave at them.

"That's amazing," she whispered, reaching out to touch it. She flinched back, and looked up at James. "Would it hurt them if I touched it?" She asked.

"No, I don't think it would." James replied, chuckling at how hesitant she was. Despite his reassurance, she did not touch the photo, instead looking at it until James put it away again.

"When you say Every Flavor Beans, do you mean every flavor?" She asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. There's even Bogey flavor." James said absently, staring up at the stairs. His wand was back in his pocket; he was done with magic for now. How glad he was that the trace had been taken off of him on his birthday only last week.

"That's gross." Again her face scrunched up. Then she laughed. "I'd love to try some."

"I'll bring you some tomorrow." James offered, though in the back of his mind he knew it would be a bad idea. He was hoping now that she would wake up and think it had all been a dream. He knew what he was doing was wrong; he should not be letting a muggle know about the wizarding world, be he couldn't help it. Besides...there were some muggles out there who knew. Muggles who became husbands or wives, or who birthed a magical child...

He knew that in order to protect this girl, he would either have to Obliviate her, or...

"You'd come see me tomorrow?" Erin asked, suddenly hopeful. There was something more than just hope for eating magical candy in there.

"Of course I would." James said, smiling. He knew it was true even as he said it. "That is, if you don't think I'm a freak."

"Well...it is a little much to take in," the girl admitted, "but I'm sure I can take anything you throw at me. I've seen a lot of things in my life."

"Excellent." James said with a smile. For the first time in quite a while, he felt elated. Happy. Thoughts of his father had left him, and he was simply enjoying himself as himself, as James Potter, seventeen year old wizard teenager who was experiencing a heavy dose of what hormones could do to a boy at that moment.

Erin had long sat up to talk to him. Moving without really thinking, James leaned forward, and captured her lips in his.

He had been right. The rest of her skin had been so much softer than her hands. Her lips tasted sweet, like honey, and he stroked her velvet cheek gently. When he pulled away, there was a flush on her cheeks and her eyes were closed. Slowly, she opened them, and his heart fluttered.

"I think we should go to sleep now." She whispered huskily. "Before we fall out of the tree."

James chuckled, but agreed. When they had climbed back down, Erin stretched and yawned, and very briefly an image of a cat flitted through James' mind. She turned to face him, still a little flushed, and smiled.

"Thank you, James Potter, for giving me the most interesting night of my life." She said.

"Likewise." James replied. They stood in a comfortable silence, and then Erin closed the distance between them, standing on her toes in order to reach him. She even had to grab his shoulders and pull him down a bit in order to press her lips firmly against his, and then pulled away and, without a word, bounded off. James watched her go, and smiled.

As he turned to leave, he began to think of where he had stashed all his candies so Lily and Albus couldn't get to them.

The End

A/N: I'm not really sure why I forced myself to write a one-shot. To tell you the truth, about two hours ago I was staring at a blank screen thinking 'write something, write something, write something', and I actually forced myself to think of something to write. I don't really mind how this turned out, actually. I think it was kind of sweet.

It's sort of like a hint of what my other Harry Potter fanfic I'm working on is like. Except that needs serious editting and rethinking and just work. But yeah. I came up with this in a couple of hours, so any mistakes or rushing or anything, I am sorry. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed it. XD


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